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SmackDown RunDown Live (10/18/16): The Chin That Got The Win

No Chin Music! If you're ready for another edition of SmackDown RunDown Live, give me a “Hell Yeah!” This week featured the biggest opportunity for our newest lovable loser. Let's get down to it.

AJ Styles beat the crap out of James Ellsworth… and still lost.

Forget about AJ Styles, James Ellsworth is the rookie of the year! Who else in the WWE owns two victories over the company's top star in a few weeks' stay? No one, I say. James Ellsworth should win a Slammy or something. Sure, it was a DQ win and he failed to capture the gold, but still, the record books will always show that this turtle without a shell beat the Phenomenal One twice. It was a fun main event with Ambrose getting the upper hand again.

Does it hurt AJ that he lost both times to a "local competitor?" Not really. It's not like he was beaten so bad that he couldn't get up. The entire James Ellsworth angle is set to fuel Styles vs. Ambrose and as much as I don't agree with that direction, we basically don't have a choice. Their program the first time around didn't work since Ambrose was a questionable face and Styles was a questionable heel, but with a little dash of Chinless Aggression, we get to define both men's characters a bit clearer.

Styles will definitely use these embarrassing losses as fuel to be more aggressive while Ambrose will slowly wiggle back to his goofball character rather than the asshole he was months ago. I know I wanted Ambrose to become heel, too, but SmackDown Live needs a top face. We can't bother John Cena because he's out there making terrible reality shows, so Ambrose has to take his place until Ziggler starts gunning for the top prize again. With a roster so thin, Styles will run out of credible competitors way too soon.

Some Blue Brand Vibes and Blues—Live!

Before we end the week, let's have a quick round of Vibes and Blues. Plenty to talk about here, so if you're ready, let's finish this. Vibe is a thumbs up while Blue is a thumbs down.

Vibe: We got a good 6-man tag match this week that saw the Miz and the Spirit Squad beating Ziggler and SlayNo. Kenny Dykstra even got the roll-up win, which caught me off-guard. The Spirit Squad is definitely here to stay and I'm okay with it. It wasn't an epic confrontation, but hey, who said we need to have emotional promos from Miz and Ziggler week after week?

Blue: So, Orton and Harper had a slow match, Wyatt came out with a casket, and Kane later appeared inside the casket. I get why everyone is in there, but why the hell is there a casket? Does this mean Bray Wyatt is the new ruler of the underworld? Are we getting a tag team casket match at Survivor Series? Man, this storyline just became even worse.

Vibe: Alexa Bliss finally got a definitive win over Naomi this week. I think this was the match we should've seen at No Mercy. It was really stupid to halt Alexa Bliss' mean streak, but at least Naomi received a slight push because of it. I'm just glad Alexa is now back on track.

Blue: Nikki Bella and Carmella had a promo this week. That's what regular viewers saw. What I saw was a blatant promotion of Total Bellas and it was annoying. I don’t give a shit who dates who, this isn’t about the guys. The women’s division is about the women. While RAW is making history with Charlotte and Sasha, we have this crap on SmackDown Live.

Vibe: Baron Corbin steamrolled Jack Swagger in a very quick match and that was the end of it. Everyone shrugged and moved on with their lives. Corbin then went on Talking Smack and tore Daniel Bryan a new one. It wasn’t a Miz shoot or something, but it was still a good promo. Give this guy a meaningful story already! But then again, who will he feud with? Another run with Apollo Crews?

Blue: Curt Hawkins almost made his in-ring debut by refusing to face Apollo Crews. Is anyone bothered by the fact that Curt Hawkins is using Eva Marie's gimmick? At least he recorded his own entrance spiel. I really thought this guy would steal the show. I guess he's just the next Fandango.

SMACKDOWN RUNDOWN: Despite an entertaining main event, this week's episode of SmackDown Live was just 'meh'. If you haven't seen the episode yet, just go ahead and jump to the main event. The effects of having a thin roster are starting to show that I just wish they find a remedy before it even worsens. For now, this week's show deserves a B- solely because of James Ellsworth's bumpy road to victory.

Did you enjoy this week's SmackDown Live? Are you buying James Ellsworth's ridiculous tee? Send me presents down at the comments.

Photos from WWE.com

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Ricky Jay Publico (@HarambeMustLive) is a wrestling fan who enjoys watching high flyers and brawlers battle it out in the ring. A known Botchamania binge-watcher, he claims to have memorized the chronological order of Royal Rumble winners, but fails to remember who won in 2004. He writes stories about life and nonsense.